From: aidotengineer

This article compiles insights from a survey of 100 AI Engineers during a “Frontier Feud” competition held in New York City [00:00:30], [00:01:07]. The survey aimed to gauge perspectives on various aspects of the AI industry.

AI Tools

When asked about AI tools that engineers love, the top answers included:

Model Considerations

Top considerations when choosing an AI model were identified as:

Jobs at Risk from AI Disruption

Surveyed AI Engineers identified several jobs most at risk of AI disruption:

AI Industry Buzzwords

AI Engineers expressed fatigue with certain buzzwords, including:

Influential AI Research and Papers

The most influential AI paper in history, according to the survey, is “Attention is All You Need” [00:17:49], [00:20:45].

Most influential AI researchers mentioned include:

AI Engineer Nightmares

The biggest nightmare for an AI Engineer at 2 AM was identified as:

Industry Benefiting Most from AI

The industry expected to benefit most from AI is Healthcare [00:20:57], [00:21:00].

Various “tech hot takes” shared during the event provide a glimpse into future AI engineering and trends:

  • Future of Model Training: It’s predicted that at least one of the current major players training large models today will no longer be doing so by the end of the year [00:01:55].
  • AI as Therapists: AI are suggested to make really good therapists [00:02:13].
  • Non-AI Interrupted Thinking: Professionals in the AI industry should dedicate 20 minutes daily to paper-and-pencil thinking, uninterrupted by AI [00:02:27]. This is considered important for providing good content for AI models to be trained on, especially when AI models represent individuals [00:02:50].
  • On-Device Models and Smaller Models: A significant trend towards the majority of deployed models being on-device within a year and a half, with smaller, hyperspecialized models orchestrated together, rather than solely relying on larger models and external data processing [00:03:31].
  • AI Dating AI: In the future, dating apps might feature AIs dating each other [00:04:13].
  • Beyond Transformers: Transformers are not seen as the final AI architecture, with eventual models being built using biological materials [00:04:19].
  • Multi-Bot Conversations: One-on-one chatting with an AI bot is considered boring, suggesting that future conversations will involve at least two other bots in the room [00:04:37].
  • “Token Wall”: The idea of hitting a “token wall” in AI development is dismissed as a “skill issue” [00:04:54].

Future of AI Engineering

An upcoming “State of AI Engineering” survey is being conducted to provide greater transparency in the industry regarding tools and workflows used by AI Engineers [00:21:39], [00:21:50].